Decision Points

Whether you are for or against President George Bush, this book is a revealing look inside a man making difficult, almost impossible decisions - decisions that affected the entire world. It's so easy to listen to the press's interpretation of events and decisions, but I feel I never know the whole story. This book let me peek behind the scenes of the presidency and understand with the information available at any given time, how a president thinks. I love it when asked the question, "if you knew then what you know now, would you do it differently?" His answer is "I didn't have that luxury". It is far too easy to second guess past decisions, but in any moment we can only act on the information we have. Having the book read by President Bush himself was a real treat.

First off, there is an unabridged version of the book that I wish Audible would have linked to from either the front page or this page. I didn't know that at the time I bought this, or I would have looked for the unabridged.

I enjoyed the recounting of many of his decisions. I don't think his reasoning will surprise many people who keep up with politics, but I do think that a lot of that reasoning tends to fall by the wayside in our 24-hour infotainment media that wants to cover outrage more than news. It's unfortunate that we don't get these types of explanations while a president is in office.

I liked that he owned up to many mistakes (the Katrina handling comes to mind). I also like that he doesn't necessarily pull punches when others screwed up too (the Loiusiana governor taking four days to request the response to be federalized). Some may see it as back-handed attacks, but the simple fact is that the law requires the first response to be from the state, not the feds.

I guess the biggest benefit is hearing what he was doing and when, without the constant sniping of critics trying to reframe his actions to political advantage is very useful. For historians, that's a great gift. Too much of what we know of these events is shaped by the partisan attacks on cable, and not enough on the first person accounts of those involved.

This is a book well worth the time.

I once broke up with a girl friend because she voted for this guy. I'm not his biggest fan but what I believe is that he was doing the best he could given his skill set. It's surprisingly religious. Not my cup of tea. Perhaps I should have expected that... I believe he believes what he wrote. I don't necessarily believe that it's as simple as he describes. He's very black and white. That said, he faults himself in situations in which he deserves it and he's candid about a lot of events that allowed even me, a hater, to find him very human and almost endearing. Interesting book no matter your views. I recommend it.

if I knew this information while Bush was in office; if americans all knew this information, we would have appreciated and understood what a great man and president he was and is. What an eye opener to the president;s job. amazing.

President Bush gives an insightful view of the behind the scenes activities and thought processes that made up his presidency during a difficult time in American history. I wish all of his haters would get this book and maybe find out it's not an easy task being the leader of the free world, especially when we have a bullseye on our back.

This book shows how a president can use his faith and internal strength to make the hard decisions that won't always be the right ones, but anyone on either side of the political spectrum can see he made them in the best interest of the people. Where he made mistakes he owns them, and this is something the current president has neither the willingness nor character to do. Bush also gives credit to others that helped make the decisions and build the policies that were highly successful under his leadership. One can't help but be motivated and inspired by his internal strength and faith. I hope others regardless of their political views will read (or listen to) this book, as it will help us all to expect more out of our leaders and ourselves.

Whether you are a political fan or not there is something about hearing a President explain his decisions. I love that this book is read by George Bush. Its as if he's sitting in a room with you explaining why he made the decisions he's made. I may not agree. I may not have made the same decisions. But I now know what was behind his thinking in making his. This is a great read!!

It was a great insight into the presidency. I actually enjoyed the "topic" approach rather than the chronological approach. This allowed me to understand the basis of the decisions President Bush made whether I agreed with them or not. I would recommend this book strongly.

This was a refreshing and personal perspective of some rather difficult and alarming events during the presidency of President George W. Bush. More compelling than just reading the book was listening to the President in his own words. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to President Bush and reflecting on my own recollection of the some of the events that he shared from his own perspective.

This was a beautiful ambition. This is a vivid depiction of how the man came to the principiled decisions. Even if you disagree with the priciples, you'll come away with fresh insight into the man and his motives. I loved hearing it in his own words.